Compressor lubrication



Dec. 17, 1940. c. R. NEESON COMPRESSOR LUBRICA'I'ION Filed May 29, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 INVENTOR BY CHARLES R. [\IEESON A TTORNE Y Patented Dec. 17 1940 UNITED, STATES COMPRESSOR LUBRICATION Charles R. Neeson, Dayton, Ohio, assignorpby mesne assignments, to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich, 'a. corporation of Delaware Application May 29, 1937, Serial No. 145,586

1 Claim. (01'. 230-206) The present invention relates to apparatus for lubricating and cooling a compressing unit for use in a refrigerating system such as is used in refrigerators and air conditioners. The principal 5 object of the present invention is to devise oil pumping means which operates regardless of the direction of rotation of the shaft of the compressor in which it is incorporated. a

The invention is of particular utility in the combination of a hermetically sealed motor and compressor assembly of the type in which the motor is fastened to a main shaft having a crank at one end thereof to which the pistons are attached. In such an assembly the type of motor may vary in characteristics in accordance with local power conditions. For example, the motor may be a three-phase, squirrel cage induction motor or a single-phase squirrel cage induction motor, or a two-phase synchronous motor, or almost any other standard type. The current supplied by power companies varies in diiferent localities. For example, there are power systems supplying current at 50, 60, 110, 208, 220, and 440 volts and the current may be direct, or alternating at 50 or 60 cycles. Accordingly, in order to supply the demand for refrigerating machinery in all sections of the country it is necessary to supply compressing units embodying any one of fifty or sixty difierent types of motors. Included among these different types of motors are anumber which ro-' tate clockwise or counter-clockwise according to v the manner in which the power lines are attached to the motor, and the present invention has for its object the provision of a compressing unit which may operate regardless of the direction of rotation of the motor embodied therein.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a compressing unit, consisting oi a motor and compressor assembly in combination with an oil pump and lubricating system in which the oil will always flow in one direction through the compressing unit regardless of the direction of rotation of the motor. This is desirable for several reasons; one reason being that the installer of the refrigeratingmachinery maynot always attach the power lines to the compressor in such a manner that the motor would rotate in a desired direction, and the most important reason being that,

' even though the connections were properly made,

59 the power company or a linesman for the power company mightunwittingly reverse the wires and cause the motor to run in the opposite direction.

.In either case, the compressing unit might. oper- Ii ate satisfactorily for a short period of time due to its inherent characteristics if the compressor is of the radial type designed to operate regardless of the direction of rotation of the motor. However, after a short period of time an ordinary lubricating system would have caused all the oil to drain from the motor and compressor with re- 5 suiting friction which would cause either the motor or the compressor to fail and would possibly cause them to be ruined. Accordingly, the principal object of the present invention is to devise an oil pump in combination with a compressor 10 which operates regardless of the direction of rotation of the motor driving the compressor. The objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings .wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

In the drawings:

Figure l discloses the essential elements of the preferred form of compressing unit embodied in the present invention, the figure being taken as a vertical, central cross-section of a compressing unit such as more fully disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 145,585, filed concurrently herewith, now Patent No. 2,204,510, issued June 11', 1940, to which reference may be made for more complete details of the compressing unit and its application to a refrigerating machine, the present disclosure being sufiicient for an understanding of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal cross-section taken along line 2--2 of Figure 1 and illustrating theoperation of the oil pump when the motor is ro-' tating in one direction;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing 30 the operation of the pump when the motor is rotating in the opposite direction;

Figure 4 is a horizontal cross section taken on line t-t' of Figure 1, showing further details of the pump; 40

Figure 5 is a detail view of a portion of the preierred form of oil pump;

Figure 6 is a detail view of another part of the Figure 7 is a schematicwiring diagram illustrating the possibility ofaccidentally or intentionally reversing the direction of rotation of the motor when the motor is of the synchronous, two-phase type:

Figure 8 is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the possibility of accidentally or inten tionally reversing the direction of rotation of the motor when the motor is of the single-phase induction type; and

Figure 9 is a similar wiring diagram in which suck oil from the oil sump 42 through a suction the motor is of the 3-phase, squirrel cage induction type. r

The compressing unit is preferably hermetically sealed within a casing l3 comprising a substantially cylindrical shell 43, a top cover (not shown), and an oil sump 42 forming a detachable bottom cover for the casing. The shell is provided with a recess 43 and a ring 44 is fitted within the shell to form a passage for the oil which is caused to circulate through recess 43 in order to cool an electric motor, the stator 45 of which is fitted against ring 44. The oil enters throughan oil return pipe 23 extending through the shell at the bottom of recess 43 and leaves through an opening communicating with. bore 43 extending downward through the shell wall, the opening (not shown) being located at the top of the recess in order that.oil will completely surround the stator of the motor. The motor is more fully illustrated in my copending application, mentioned above.

The rotor 5| is attached to a crankshaft 52 by a key 51 and fastening means (not shown). The rotor is supported by a collar 53 resting upon the upper end of one of a pair of bearings 53 supported in a housing 54 carried by radiating arms 55 integral with the shell. The shaft 52 is provided with an enlarged head 50 bearing against the end of lower bearing 53, the head being provided with an offset crank 62. A bearing 53 surrounds the crank and is in turn surrounded by the bearing straps of piston rods 54. The bearing 63 and piston rods 34 are maintained on the crank by a cap and an extended locking pin I I.

The pin II is eccentrically positioned with respect to the axis of shaft 52 and acts as the driver for a pump rotor shaft I2 which is concentrio with the axis of shaft 52. The pump rotor shaft is held in bearings in a pump head I3 attached to a pump housing I4 integral with the .oil

sump 42. The pump is preferably of the interlocked gear type comprising an idler gear and crescent assembly I5 and a rotor gear the rotor gear being integral with the pump rotor shaft I2. The rotor gear is continuously driven by pin II engaging one arm of a cross-bar I3 ex: tending laterally from both sides of the rotor shaft 12, so that if the motor starts in one direction pin II will engage one end of bar I3 and will continuously rotate rotor gear 15 in the same direction as that of rotor 5|, and if the direction of rotation of rotor 5i reverses,pin II will describe an arc of approximately 180 degrees without affecting the pump until it engages the opposite end of bar I3 whereupon the rotor gear will be continuously rotated in the new direction of rotation.

Regardless of the direction of rotation the pump is designed, as will be presently explained, to

inlet 1'! and to discharge the oil through an outlet I3 communicating with an oil discharge pipe 23. The pipe 28 leads the oil to the interior of an oil cooler tube 21. The oil cooler may be of any desiredtype, the instant illustration being of a water-cooled type. The water-cooled oil cooler preferably comprises the closed tube 21 which is provided with a concentric internal tube I3 of smaller diameter through which wateris passed at the temperature and rate of flow necessaryto reduce the temperature of the oil heated by the,

the top of tube I8 and therefore flows in the opposite direction to the oil which enters at the bottom of tube 21. Advantage is therefore taken of the counter-flow principle of heat transfer, the warmest oil being in heat-transferring relation to water which has been previously warmed by extracting heat from the coolest oil. In order that the oil cooler may be as efiective a heattransfer device as possible without occupying a large space the tube I8 is preferably provided with a spirally positioned fin I40, the outer edges of which closely embrace the internal wall of tube 21. The oil therefore flows upward in a spiral path of great length, the fin not only formving the passage for the oil but providing a large surface area for the transference of heat.

The cool oil passes from the heat transfer device through tube 29 into recess 43 as previously described. After cooling the motor the oil enters bore 43 which communicates with a bore 83 passing through one of the supporting arms 55; The bore 80 leads to an annular space I4I7defined by shaft 52, the inner ends of bearings 53, and the housing 54. Oil may escape from the annular space by passing between the surfaces of bearing 53 and shaft 52, axially extending grooves I42 being provided to assist in distributing a thin film of oil throughout the bearing surfaces. The oil which flows upwardly may escape from between the end of upper bearing 53 and collar 56. grooves I43 being provided to aid its passage.

- The shaft, rotating at high speed, would whip the oil against the windings 50 of the stator 45 were it not for a splash ring 32 supported by the arms 55. The oil upon striking the splash ring collects into drops which pass into the oil sump 42 by way of openings 33 between the supporting arms 55. 011 which passes downwardly between lower bearing 53 and shaft 52 may escape from between the end'of lower bearing 53 and the enlarged head 63, grooves I44 and I45, corresponding to grooves I42 and I43, respectively, being provided in the bearing surface todistribute the oil in its passage.

A bore 84 extending longitudinally of shaft 52 communicates with space I at one end and with the inner surface of bearing 53 at its other end. 011 is thereby caused to lubricate the surface of crank 32 and is permitted to flow outwardly from between the upper end of bearing 63 and head 60, and from between the lower end of bearing and cap I0. A number of small openings are provided in bearing 53 to permit oil to flow outwardly therethrough to lubricate the surfaces of the bearing straps of piston rods 34, the oil thereafter escaping from between the adjacent surfaces of the bearing straps and the head 30 and cap'lllmThe oil which so emerges is whipped into the cylinders of the compressor and against the surface of the casing between the cylinders. Most of this oil drips into the oil sump,

while a small portion thereof, after lubricating the piston and cylinder walls and the suction and discharge valves of the compressor, may be entrained with the compressed refrigerating gas and eventually returned to the compressing unit after passing through some or all of the refrigerating equipment.

The pistons 33 operate in cylinder liners 30 inserted through discharge heads 3| cast lutegrally with theshell 40, the liners extending through an integrally cast suction manifold 32 communicating with the refrigerating equipment by way of a suction head 93. The expanded gas,

returning to compressing unit, passes into the compression space of the cylinder by way of the suction manifold 92 entering the cylinder through screen 94, annular space 95, passage 96, and auxiliary ports I00. The 'principal amount of gas enters by way of suction valve 91, the auxiliary ports I00 aiding in increasing the capacity of the compressor. The compressed gas is discharged by way of discharge valve I05 seated against a header I08 as more fully explained in my copending application, Serial No. 145,589, filed concurrently herewith, now Patent No. 2,137,965; issued November 22, 1938. The discharge head 9| is closed by a cap II2 defining a discharge pocket which communicates with the .high pressure side of the refrigerating equipment (not shown). The screen 54 is preferably of fine mesh which tends not only to prevent foreign matter such as scale from entering the valve assembly but to separate slugs or droplets of oil from the refrigerating gas with which the oil may be entrained. The oil so separated from the gas passes through an opening H5 and drops into the oil sump 52, the opening II5 thus pro- 5 viding a means for removing oil from the gas and returning it to the crankcase, and for removing as from the crankcase. Grooves H6 in the sides of cylinder liners 90 also serve to permit removal of gas from the crankcase.

In order to assure unidirectional flow of the oil and constant lubrication the pump is made automatically reversible as subsequently described. The rotor gear IB compirses a disc I50 concentric with pump rotor shaft I2 which is 5 provided .with axially extending teeth I5! adadjacent its periphery. The disc and teeth fit within a. cavity in head It, which is provided with an elongated suction port I52 and an elongated discharge port I53, the ports being separated by fixed landsISd and I55. Port I52 communicates.

with suction inlet II directly, while port I53 communicates with discharge outlet I8 by way of a passage I55 in pump housing I5.

The pump housing is provided with a socket I51 concentric with the axis of shaft I2 in which is positioned the locating stub I58 of the crescent and idler gear assembly I5. 'Ihe stub adjoins a limiting portion I50 in which is mounted an eccentrlcally located idler gear shaft I M, the eccentricity thereof being such as to permit the When shaft I2 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2, limiting portion I50 is swung by the-friction between the gears so as to strike an abutment I55 on the pump housing.

This places the crescent adjacent land I55 and causes the gear teeth to meshadjacent land I55. Oil enters the spaces between gear teeth I5I from port I52, istrapped between the teeth of gear I62 and crescent I 65 and forced into port I53 by the piston action of the gear teeth approaching the point of complete meshing. If shaft I2 rotates in the opposite direction as indicated by the arrow in, Figure 3, limiting portion I60 swings through an arc of 180 degrees and strikes an abutment I66 on the pump housing. This causes the relative position of the crescent to reverse,

but oil is still caused to enter the spaces between gear teeth I5I from port I52, to'be trapped between the teeth of gear I62 and crescent I54, and to be forced into port I53.

Thus, through the loose connection at III9 and the reversible character of the crescent and idler assembly, the pump cannot operate until the shaft 52 has completed one full rotation, which eliminates any load upon the motor at the instant of starting.

In order to prevent binding of the parts due to excessive pressures built up by the compression of the oil in the discharge port I53 the pump housing is provided with a vertical opening I10 leading to a passage between abutments I I65 and I66, the passage leading to a clear space surrounding limiting portion I60 and also to the 'open lower end of bore III in which'idler gear shaft I6! is mounted. The idler gear shaft is thereby lubricated and the idler and crescent assembly is caused to float in oil at equal pressures on both sides thereof. The locating stub I58 is also provided with a vertical groove I12 by means of which oil is caused to lubricate the stub and to fill" the socket I51, thereby lubricating a ball I73 located in the stub and maintained therein by a spring I15, this construction providing .a resilient thrust bearing tending to keep the gears in proper alignment. In order also to prevent binding of the rotor gear I6 the disc I50 is prefpumps may be suitable for the purpose and such types of pumps when placed in the combination herein described are considered to be the equivalent of the illustrated type.

Figure 7 schematically illustrates a wiring diagram in which the motor is a two-phase, synchronous motor supplied with alternating cur rent through the leads I80 and with direct currentthrough the leads IM and I82. A reversing switch I83is indicated as a means whereby the direction of current in leads I8I and I82 may be reversed whereby to cause such a motor to rotate in the opposite direction. I

Figure 8 is a schematic wiring diagram similar to Figure 7 in which the motor is a single-. phase, squirrel-cage, induction motor supplied with alternating current through leads I85 and I85. A reversing switch I8I is indicated as a means whereby the polarity of the field may be reversed, causing the motor to operate in the reverse direction.

Figure 9 is-a schematic wiring diagram similar to Figure 8 in which the motor is a threephase, squirrel-cage, induction motor supplied by current through leads I 95, I 9| and I92. A reversing switch I 951s indicated as a means to cause leads IQI and I92 in efiect to become attached to one or another of the motor connections; thus the sequence of the field excitations may be altered so as to cause the motor to rotate in one or the other direction.

It is to be appreciated that Figures 7, 8, and 9 are meant schematically to indicate the possibility of first, connecting the motor so as to ro-' tate in one or the other direction, and secondly, causing the direction of flux to become accidentally or intentionally reversed after the refrigerating system is installed. It is of course apparent that other types of motors than those indicated can be caused to rotate in more than one direction and it is a feature of my invention that this does not have any efieci; upon the lubricating system, the compressor pistons being radially attached and the compressor valves be ing operated in accordance with the differences in pressure on opposite surfaces thereof as more fully explained in my copending application,

Serial No. 145,589, filed concurrently herewith,-

now Patent No. 2,137,965, issued November 22, 1938. It is also apparent that such a reversal of direction of rotation does not affect the compression of the refrigerating gas nor the action of the refrigerating equipment to which the compressing unit is attached.

A portion of the apparatus not herein fully illustrated comprises an unloading valve (not shown) seated in a boss IZI cast in the shell 40 with which bore 49 communicates through a cross-bore I20. Cross-bore I20 also communicates with an oil pressure relief valve (not shown). Details of the pressure relief mechanism and the loading and unloading mechanism are fully set forth in my copending application, Serial No. 145,587, filed concurrently herewith.

Having illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention it should now be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications in arrangement and detail thereof may be devised within the scope of the appended claim, which claim is to be taken as embracing all such modifications as come within the terms thereof.

I claim:

The combination with a motor-compressor assembly capable of operating in either direction of rotation, of a pump for circulating a lubricating and cooling medium therethrough comprising a gear having a driving connection with said motor-compressor assembly in order to be driven thereby and rotated in unison therewith, and an automatic reversing mechanism associated with said pump comprising a part frictionally engaged by said gear and an abutment against which said part is held in one position by the frictional engagement of said gear and part when said gear is rotating, said part being capable of moving through an arc of approximately by the frictional engagement of said gear upon reversal of rotation of said motorcompressor assembly whereby said pump may force the lubricating and cooling medium in one direction regardless of the direction of rotation of the motor-compressor assembly, said driving connection comprising means whereby said motor-compressor assembly may reverse through substantially 180 before the reversal of rotation of said gear commences in order that said motorcompressor assembly may achieve considerable speed before said pump commences to operate.

CHARLES R. NEESON. 

